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1. Field
This invention relates to clothes washing, particular to a washing, drying, and storage device for brassieres and bikini tops.
2. Prior Art
Brassieres are commonly made with two cups, two shoulder straps, two back straps, a latching mechanism (hooks and eyelets), optional padding (soft foam, air, water, gel, or silicone), and, optionally, two underwires. Padding can come as removable inserts or as an integral part of the bra. Some bras comprise extremely delicate fabric, such as lace, satin, silk, mesh, high-tech microfiber, stretch, and sheer fabric.
The underwires, when used in the cups, often become misshapen during washing and drying. Over time, the underwires frequently tear through the bra""s fabric. This can result in injury to the breast or bra, and can also damage other clothing and the washing machine drum.
The latching mechanism, located either on the two back straps or on the front in between the cups at the intercup bridge, typically has several hooks and eyelets or a plastic snap closure. In the washing machine and/or dryer the hooks frequently snag onto the bra itself, zippers, buttonholes, sweaters, and delicate fabrics, as well as becoming misshapen. A bra can also easily become tangled with other clothing and in crevices within the washer and dryer, causing further deformities to the cups, padding, underwires, fabric, and straps. Repeated machine washing and drying can substantially diminish the elasticity of bras. The padding, especially if made of thick and soft foam, often becomes indented and bunched. If made of air, water, gel, or silicone, it can becomes punctured and leak. Such deformities are visible, even through a T-shirt, and are especially noticeable when tight fitting garments are worn. These problems are well understood by women who wear padded or non-padded bras.
Consequently, in an attempt to protect the bra""s original shape, some users have tried to wash bras in a dishwasher. To do so, the bra must be fastened to the dishwasher to prevent it from shifting and becoming damaged by the dishwasher""s pointed rack rods and rotating spray arm. Another way to wash bras is to place it within a mesh washing bag, which is then placed in a washing machine or dishwasher. However, because of its soft material construction, the bag still does not adequately prevent the bra from being damagedxe2x80x94such as losing its original shape, collapsing inward and against the cups"" curved shape, and becoming tangled with other bras within the same bag. In addition, padded bras (especially those using air, water, gel, or silicone) can be easily punctured, thus causing leakage to the bra cups. The bra""s hooks can also come loose and snag on other bras placed within the same bag. The time and money needed to replace a damaged bra can also be substantial.
Given all these inconveniences, many women have chosen to wash their bras by hand. However, hand washing is very time-consuming and impractical. It can also cause back, hand, and wrist pain. Most bras that are hand washed have to be air-dried, which causes huge water deposits where they are hung and thus slippery surfaces and more unnecessary cleanup.
One attempt to address the aforementioned problems has been made by DesForges with a garment protector as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,236 (Oct. 26, 1999). It comprises two separate inner and outer shells that snap together in a concavo-convex fashion with the bra secured between the shells. The user must place the right bra cup on top of the left bra cup before it can be inserted into DesForges""s device. This folding process disfigures the bra cups"" curvature, especially when the bra is padded, even before it is washed and dried. The more padded the cups, the more susceptible they are to disfigurement, especially when folded in this fashion. The bra""s straps, along with its hooks, are left dangling outside the device, which can then snag onto clothing, zippers, buttonholes, as well as in the washer and dryer""s crevices. Although DesForges claims that bra straps may be held within the device, the gaps throughout the device""s shell are larger than the straps, thus leaving space for the straps to escape and become tangled with the previously mentioned items. A final problem is that its locking mechanism consists of three pins, which easily can slide out of its engaging slot.
DesForges shows another garment protector in U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,368 (May 22, 2001) which is basically the same as that of his ""236 patent, but adds a circular cover that fits over the inner form to hold an extra clothing article. All of the previous devices flaws are still present in this one. However, another problem arisesxe2x80x94that is, the cover is very unstable. Moreover, it isn""t clear how this cover can be secured in place; it will easily come loose during machine washing and drying.
Mayer shows a garment protector in U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,013 (Sep. 17, 1996). It comprises two domed-shaped baskets with two hinged springs. The bra cups are sandwiched between the two baskets and springs. The problem with this design is that the springs place excessive pressure on the bra cups, thereby damaging their fragile fabric and padding. Some bras are made of fabric, which is too delicate to withstand the spring""s pressure. Mayer""s device has three locking mechanisms, four hinges, and two spring-like components. These components are confusing and make using the device difficult. Although Mayer claims that the device""s baskets prevent the bra""s straps from tangling with other clothing, the patent does not describe how this would be accomplished.
Sutton shows a garment protector in U.S. Pat. No. 5,829,083 (Nov. 3, 1998) that includes a pair of hemispherical sections that form two balls, with the smaller ball nested within the larger ball. The bra is held by the inner ball, which is then placed within the outer ball. The problem with this design is that not all bra cups are perfectly spherical, especially padded ones. For example, almost all padded bras are thicker on the bottom where the underwires lie, and then gradually thin out towards the top. This graduated foam padding creates a more natural fit for the wearer than an evenly padded bra and a more pleasing appearance to the upper part of the breasts that are exposed when wearing certain styles of blouses, etc. Because of its irregular contours, the inner part of a padded bra, especially a thickly padded one, will not rest properly in Sutton""s device. Moreover, the device will not securely hold the bra. The gaps are too big so that bra straps and hooks can easily escape. Both hinges and locking mechanisms are unstable, as they protrude from the device, and can easily hit the washer and dryer, and eventually become damaged, thus making it unfit for further use. Also, the pins of the hinge mechanism are removable, so a user can easily misplace them, also rendering the device useless. Sutton""s device requires some trial-and-error to use, and therefore is not user-friendly. For example, it isn""t clear if the user must open the device by pressing the thumb lever only, or must also remove the rods or pins. Overall, this design is big and unwieldy, and thus occupies a large volume in a washer or dryer.
Another garment protector is shown in UK published patent application 2,238,323 A to Beyer (May 29, 1991). It uses a stiff cage-like container with tiny holes in the walls. This device has a lower container portion and an upper lid portion. However, this design is also flawed. Although the rigid container may protect the bras from the outside environment, it does not protect the bra""s internal structure. For example, semi-padded and thickly padded bras are made from various materials (e.g., soft foam, gel, water, air or silicone) that often become damaged with indentations, deformations, and leakage. The bra""s padding and natural curvature can collapse inward, and against their original curved shape, and the hooks can come loose and snag on the bra placed within the same device. In addition, the locking mechanism consists of two external clasps with holes that snap into its receiving studs. This mechanism appears unstable and can break from constant impact with the washer and dryer through repeated use.
Another garment protector is shown in UK published patent application 2,291,654 A to McArdle (Jan. 31, 1996). It uses a container resembling a flattened jar or disk. The bra is placed inside the container and is secured by screwing on the lid. There are several problems with this design. First, the holes are too small and too few, thus preventing the bra from being properly cleaned and dried. Furthermore, there is nothing to prevent the bra cups from becoming deformed, especially padded ones.
In sum, all prior-art protectors of which I am aware have one or more of the following disadvantages and defects:
They require users to fold the bra cup portion on top of one another before it can be inserted into the device. This causes the cup portions of the bra to lose their curvature and become flattened, resulting in improper fitting of the bra cups around the wearer""s breasts.
The gaps throughout each device""s shell are much larger than the bra""s straps, and thus leave plenty of space for the straps to escape from the device. Thus, the bra""s back and shoulder strap portions can become tangled with other clothing articles, causing loss of elasticity and distortions to the bra cups and straps. Moreover, uncontained hooks on the bra strap can become caught in buttonholes, sweaters, zippers, the bra itself, as well as other clothing articles.
These devices"" designs can damage a bra""s delicate fabric (e.g., lace, satin, silk, mesh, high-tech microfiber, and stretch fabric) by putting excessive pressure on it. This causes the bra""s fabric to run, snag, and pucker, creating imperfections that are visible through an outer layer of clothing.
These devices do not prevent the soft foam padding from indenting and bunching, causing visible deformity to the bra. These imperfections are especially visible when body-hugging garments are worm. These deformities are especially noticeable to women who wear padded bras.
These devices offer no protection for bra padding comprised of air, water, gel, and silicone, which can become punctured and leak, thereby ruining the bra cups and rendering the bra useless.
The hinges and locking mechanisms of these devices are unstable as they protrude unprotected from the device, making them vulnerable to damage.
Accordingly, several objects and advantages of my bra device are:
(a) to provide an improved device for protecting bras during washing, drying, and storage.
(b) to provide such a device that can be used to wash bras of various designsxe2x80x94including non-padded, semi-padded and heavily padded brasxe2x80x94regardless of whether the padding is made of soft foam, air, water, gel, or silicone.
(c) to provide such a device that can allow water, detergent and air to penetrate, yet contain the bra""s straps to prevent them and their hooks from escaping.
(d) to provide such a device that prevents bra hooks from puncturing, hooking onto, and tearing the bra itself as well as other clothing articles.
(e) to provide such a device that has a reliable and user-friendly latching mechanism and which is not susceptible to damage when properly used.
(f) to provide such a device that can shield both the contained bra and the latching mechanism during washing, drying, and storage.
(g) to provide such a device that protects the bra""s delicate fabric, thus preventing it from running, snagging, and puckering.
(h) to provide such a device that prevents a bra from being battered, thus preventing unsightly contours due to the bunching of the padding medium.
(i) to provide such a device that can preserve the curvature of the bra""s cups and underwires during washing, drying, and storage.
(j) to provide such a device that can contain a bra and all its components for machine washing, drying, and storage.
(k) to provide such a washing, drying and storage device that can easily fit into a washing machine and dryer.
(l) to provide an inexpensive, convenient, reliable, lightweight, and sturdy device that can be easily used when washing, drying, and storing one to three bra;
(m) to provide such a device that prevents the bra cups from tangling within the device and from becoming misshapen once the device is closed and locked, and when properly used.
(n) to provide such a device that can be used to wash, dry, and store not only bras and bikini tops, but also removable bra straps, demi-pads, pushup pads, shoulder pads, hosiery, panties and scarves.
(o) to provide a bra protecting device that can withstand hot water from a washing machine and hot air from a dryer.
(p) to provide such a device with no sharp edges, which prevents it from damaging other clothing articles in the washer or dryer while in use.
(q) to provide such a device that can prevent lateral movement of the two outer shell halves during washing, drying, and storage.
(r) to provide such a device that can accommodate at least one thickly padded bra, two semi-padded, or three non-padded bras.
(s) to provide such a device which will properly protect a bra so that it will last nine or ten times as long as one that is not protected during washing, drying, and storage, thus reducing the cost of bras and the impact of manufacturing on the environment.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
In accordance with the present invention, a washing, drying, and storage device for brassieres and bikini tops comprises an outer shell, which can be split into two halves, an inner form, at least one hinge, and one latching mechanism. The inner form and outer shell""s two halves have holes that are large enough for water, detergent, and air to reach the bra inside, yet are smaller than the bra""s shoulder straps. This prevents them from escaping and snagging on other clothing including the bra itself.